Manchester United vs Crystal Palace team news and match preview
Footballs fans will notice that a handful of today’s Premier League fixtures will kick-off at an unusual time - but why?
The Premier League continues this afternoon (November 30), with a number of teams in action. While Crystal Palace will host Manchester United for a showdown at Selhurst Park at midday, many of the fixtures will kick off later this afternoon.
However, these matches will kick-off at the unusual time of 2.05pm today, leaving many fans wondering why the seemingly-random time has been selected for the three matches.
A number of Premier League matches will be kicking off at 2.05pm today - but what is the reason for the unusual kick-off time?placeholder image
A number of Premier League matches will be kicking off at 2.05pm today - but what is the reason for the unusual kick-off time? | Getty Images
Why are Premier League matches kicking off at 2.05pm today?
The reason for the 2.05pm kick-offs comes down to television schedules.
The Crystal Palace-Manchester United match had originally been scheduled to take place at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon. However, this was pushed back 24 hours to accommodate Palace’s Europa Conference League fixture against Strasbourg, which took place on Thursday evening.
As a result, the three 2pm matches were pushed back by five minutes to avoid any overlapping with TNT Sports coverage. The Athletic reports that Sky Sports made the request to the Premier League and the six club whose fixture were impacted by the change, with approval given.
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While it might feel usual for kick-off to come at 2.05pm, the timing is not actually as rare as you may think. A 2.05pm kick-off has happened a total of 46 times in the Premier League.
However, this weekend will be the first time that three games will kick-off at 2.05pm. All three matches will be broadcast by Sky Sports.
Later this afternoon, Chelsea will host Arsenal in a derby match at 4.30pm. The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports.
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